The large music labels today received a three-pronged reminder of what could have been.
First off, EMI and Bertelsmann settled a long-running dispute over Bertelsmann's investment in the naughty Napster – aka the Napster people used. Neither party released details about their arrangement, but, as a point of reference, …

COMMENTS

High Noon

The long days journey into the night for the major music labels has hit high noon. At first it was just grotesque like coming across a worm, in the early morning, washed out onto the concrete sidewalk after a heavy rain. When it's still early and cool the worm just twists violently trying to rediscover it's natural habitat; but now it's midday and the music industry looks like a worm dried out on a hot slab dying a slow ugly death. Of course I'm sure they think they're doing just fine and things will be back as they should be any minute now.

15 million???

Quote: "That's quite the discount from the unrealistic $2.49 per song Sprint had been charging. Sprint managed to sell all of 15 million songs over the past 18 months under its previous wallet-busting plan."

15 million songs sold by Sprint at $2.49 a pop? I'm sure that'll put the music companies off, no chance of making a profit there. Are those figures for real???